Graduate Entry Medicine 2017

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Hi, has anyone been to the 1 day UKCAT course provided by uni admissions? It's a LOT cheaper than the Kaplan one I was originally thinking of going to but not heard enough about the uni admissions course. :/

Reply 981

unrecognisable

Original post by JenniB22

Don't apply to Southampton if your UKCAT isn't good-they invite to interview solely based on that.

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for the 5 year course though? i heard the cut off is a lot lower

Reply 982

WannabeDrA

Original post by gmg2710

Hey everyone i'm a current GEM student. Just wondering if anyone has any questions that they answered? Kind regards, GMG Team.

hi, what uni are you at? what's your typical weekly schedule for the pre-clinical years? :smile:

Reply 983

aspiringmedic123

Original post by 123ash

Done most of my technique practice in books. Did well on mocks in books. 2nd day of using Medify and my AR performance is not good at all when timed. VR in practice timed, leaves me with no option but to guess! which is obvs not the right technique, BUT im actually getting more right than wrong..

QR, best to not comment. *
How is your practice coming along? you still have time. Good luck*

Hi! Thanks for the advice.

May I ask (if you don't mind) what your score was? I'm yet to do a mock exam and im only 16 days away. I'm very crap at VR but getting there, however I get rattled when I get to the QR section where I loose time. I guess I just need to calm the nerves a little and keep going.

I'm getting better scores when untimed. I'm currently using the ISC 1000 Qs book, Kaplan book and Medify. Ive been practicing here and there for atleast 3 weeks now but not religiously. I have less than 3 weeks now and I'm feeling it!

Hope I push through in the end :frown:

even though I'm really loosing hope right now cause I've done this before and I know how bad it could be. Or maybe I'm just really scared about the result.

Goodluck everyone, I get my inspiration from everyone that posts here, everyone is really encouraging :smile:

Reply 984

Medici103

Original post by aspiringmedic123

Having a less than ideal score one year is no guarantee that the same will happen again! You can do this! 👍🏻

Reply 985

Adam W96

Right, I'm taking both the GAMSAT and UKCAT. I've finally decided.

I have one month of 1-2 hour prep (plus a couple mocks thrown in) for GAMSAT, followed by a month of prep for UKCAT... while finishing my dissertation on Inducted-Pluripotent Stem Cells..

Wish me luck.

Has anyone else taken both? How did you guys find it?

Reply 986

Rosser1994

Original post by AdamCW

I found the UKCAT sets you up well for the GAMSAT.. Especially for section 1=Verbal, it's a lot calmer and a much better pace than the UKCAT.

If you've come from a science background, which you seem to have (assuming your BMedSci as well?) then you should be fine. I'm just digging out an a level chemistry book to see if I can get a better score than my (already decent) score from before.

Reply 987

Medici103

I'm debating not doing the GAMSAT. Financially, it puts me in a bit of a hole, and I don't know how much time I can devote to study as I have my MSc dissertation to finish by the end of the month. I also don't like the not knowing the results prior to application. Having said that, I am not sure about applying to four UKCAT places with my score. I think it's alright for Warwick and Bart's, but I'm worried about the cutoffs for Soton, KCL, and Newcastle.

Any advice?

Reply 988

Adam W96

Original post by Medici103

That's almost the reason why I am taking it. I had a recent win on the football and won about £500 so I'm funding GAMSAT with that fortunately. I'm taking my UKCAT on the 4th October so if that goes badly, I can't legitimately apply to anyone this year so I'm using GAMSAT to split my chances a little more. I feel one month of full prep for both should serve well along with my degree knowledge.

Another decision which swayed me was that I'm currently living with my girlfriend in Sweden and not paying rent/working etc so i have lots of time. I'm spending 4-6 hours on my dissertation most days, with around 1-2 hours in the evening preparing for GAMSAT.

I agree though, not knowing the results is a little bit of an issue. But the way i'm seeing it, is see how it all goes then decide on the med schools. I'd take any medical school seeing how competitive it is but will obviously do my utmost to score big and keep all my options open.

Reply 989

Rosser1994

Has anyone humoured the idea of taking out a loan to cover a 5 year course with someone like future finance?

Think they're the company where you only have to begin payments once you finish your degree, couldn't even imagine the total amount they'd want paid back though..

Reply 990

Medici103

Original post by Rosser1994

Yes! I thought about it both for 5 year and for making life a bit easier for graduate courses. I got figures from their website. £30,000 loan with 10 year repayment would be around £75 per month whilst studying and around £400 per month following graduation (dependent on credit rating - I haven't checked mine in a little while).

Reply 991

Medici103

Original post by AdamCW

Sensible decision. Well done on the winnings! I'm in the lab during the day and then writing in the evening so I don't know how much time I can realistically devote to GAMSAT. Plus I work. I already have my UKCAT score so that makes things slightly clearer for me but the UKCAT cut off for Newcastle last year was around 725. I have 730 so I'm wondering if it's cutting it a little close. Similar concerns for KCL and Soton.

Reply 992

123ash

Original post by aspiringmedic123

In the mocks in books I was getting a few qs wrong only in the AR and VR, all the rest were right. My QR section is very poor, I haven't started completely focussing on that. But maths and timed, never work for me.

However after spending few days more on practice for VR on Medify. I will then solely focus on QR for a good week or two. Before finishing it off with all section practice. My test is due in less than 20 days and I don't feel ready at all!

My score on Medify for AR and VR decreased a lot , I was down to 550 in AR and 530 in VR. But that has improved a little since.

I only practiced untimed, when I was still learning the techniques. After that I started timed. Because when you start to time yourself, you will be getting worse scores initially, but hopefully the more you do the more quicker you'll get. There is no point in practicing untimed as the timing is the biggest problem.

Also when it comes to VR, I end up guessing a few, and sometimes they're correct, lol

*
I think you should do a mock, Medify gives you 3 full mocks.
*
Just because you got a not so good score one year, doesn't mean you will again. You need to be positive that you will do better this year. Good luck, I agree I like to read a post when someone say's they were awful when practicing but NAILED it on the day, helps me feel positive.

Reply 993

123ash

Original post by hopefuldoctor

Hey, aspiringmedic123 wrote about their experience with UniAdmissions 6 days ago. I've quoted their post below.

"Ahh, I made a mistake and bought the UniAdmissions question booklet along with their online content >.<. Definitely do not recommend that site guys!! On another note, I've spent 2 weeks just familliarising my self with the exam and noticed quite an improvement with my VR and AR (not hard as I was very very sh**). I plan on working 2/3 hours a day for 5 days with the 3 weeks I have left. Has anyone purchased the MedicPortal online question bank? I'm running out of questions and I finished the demo mode of their online questions and it seemed pretty legit and almost mirrored Medify (which is the best UKCAT reviewer). Thanks in advance"

Thanks*

Reply 994

paniking_and_not_revising

I'm so depressed atm. My aunt and her daughter in law are sick so I've been taking care of my aunt's grandkids on and off. And then I get told by the hospital that they haven't received the reference from my former manager and I need it to start working. And they've contacted him so many times already.

And it doesn't look like they're going to provide the reference even though they said they'd be happy to do it.

I hope the hospital will allow a reference through a personal email address or through fax. I'm so sick and tired of waiting for my former employer to actually do something they promised to do 3 months ago. And I'm sick of turning up there to hunt down a manager.

And due to not working, I've pretty much starting running out of money so if I don't start working soon then I might not be able to afford to go to medical school so getting in would be pointless.

Reply 995

JenniB22

Original post by Quilverine

Is it expected that we would work through years 2-4 because that seems incredibly low? Like not even covering rent low.

I just got confirmation of my entitlement for this coming year (2nd year) and my NHS bursary payments will pay my rent with nothing left over. My student finance loan of £2342 will be the only other money I get so I'm working at a pub all this summer and then will be doing a shift per week at the same place to pay for food etc. However in February I go on placement so I'm not going to be able to work at that place because of the commute so will have to find something new I guess! It'll be worse in 3rd and 4th year when I'm moving around different hospitals every 6-8 weeks :frown:

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Reply 996

R T

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/content.php?r=15889-graduate-entry-medicine-a-guide

"GEM is more competitive than other routes into medicine. Therefore, it is advised that you consider your choices carefully. Most people choose to apply to a mix of 4 and 5 year programs to maximise their chances, though do look into your school's application process carefully - some will automatically consider you for their 5 year route if you are unsuccessful at graduate entry."

I'm struggling to find evidence of this? Do any Universities actually do this?

Also I am a bit stressed about my UCAS referee for the form. I don't have anyone realiable who has actually overseen my undergrad studies for an extended period of time. What is everyone else doing for this? Is it possible to go back to a teacher at school or college?

Reply 997

Adam W96

I started another thread about this.

The only uni that I have found that, when you apply for the 4 year route, AND get an interview, but are ultimately unsuccessful, will then offer you an interview for the 5 year GEM course is Kings College London.

Best in mind you will need a UKCAT score of at least 700 to be considered. 720+ would be safe I'd say..

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Reply 998

JenniB22

Original post by AdamCW

King's don't reinterview you, they just consider you for the 5 year and make you an offer if you make the cut. I know because it happened to me, but I couldn't afford the fees so turned them down.

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